The Perfect Present
by TheClownPrincessOfCrime
Summary: After Aneglica informs the babies of a "Birthday Rule," Kimi scrambles to find the best present for Sophie, or lose their best friendship forever. Meanwhile, Didi's dreams of a perfect party crumble around her.


*****discla**i**mer: I don't own Rugrats, but Sophie and any other characters not in the original series are mine*****

**(My story, "Meet the Bennetts" introduces Sophie, if you want, you could read that one, first. :)**

* * *

"_Wooow_!" Tommy breathed, as he and his cousin Sophie stood, hands atop their living room playpen. The two toddlers would have been knee-deep in an exciting game of adventure (which they both had a passion for) but on this particular day, they stood no chance of planning an escape.

Tommy was in awe as he watched his parents rush around the house like chicken's with their heads cut off.

"What do ya think they're_ doin'_, Tommy?" Sophie added, her eyes widening as she saw Stu frantically blow up a package of balloons as he rushed past them.

Tommy watched Didi tape colorful streamers all around the living room. "You don't 'amember, Sophie?"

Dil giggled also as he watched his parents run back and forth between each room, frantically decorating.

"Maybe," Sophie said, putting her finger to her lip with a happy gasp, "Oh, I 'amember! _W_e're gonna eat pasketti for dinner tonight!"

Tommy frowned, confused at his cousin's idea. "What?"

Sophie giggled. "Yeah, you know, 'cause pasketti is the _bestest _food in the whole wild world, so I bet ya Uncle Stu and Aunt Didi wanna have a super duper big party for it!"

Tommy thought for a moment. He was used to Sophie's outlandish and silly ideas she always had. He smiled a little, though. "No, silly! My mommy and daddy are making the house all pretty and colory 'acause it's your _birthday party _today!"

Sophie gasped, loudly. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! A birthday party for _me_?"

Dil gurgled and happily giggled and clapped his hands.

"Yeah! I hearded my mommy and daddy talkin' about it yesterday when you were helpin' Dilly find his binkie!" Tommy said, excitedly, as Didi managed to find a moment to stop and take a breather.

"Stu, have you finished blowing up the balloons?" She called, glancing at the clock. "I'm so nervous. Everything just has to be perfect!"

Stu came into the living room, blue in the face and panting. "Ba-lloons are...bl-oh-own." He panted, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Didi wrung her hands, nervously. "Oh, I hope we're not forgetting anything. I always feel like we forget something in times like this."

Stu put his hand on Didi's shoulder after having been able to breathe normally again. "Don't worry, Deed. We got everything ready. We didn't forget anything. I even made sure to put the invititations _right_ by the door so I wouldn't forget to mail them." Stu pointed to the stack of colorful invitations still sitting by the door, and his face fell. "_Oops_."

Didi gasped, putting her hands on her face. "Oh, _Stu_! You didn't mail the invitations? I can't _believe_ you didn't mail the invititations!" Didi shook her head miserably. "This is _awful_! I wanted to invite everyone we know, so we'd have a big party for Sophie's first birthday with us!"

Sophie and Tommy frowned at each other upon seeing how miserable Didi looked.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Deed," said Stu, hoping to calm the wrath of his wife. "Sophie's party is still gonna be perfect. We'll just have over the usual crew like always. It'll be fine."

Sophie and Tommy stood up and ran to the end of the playpen, as Didi walked over to them. Didi knew Stu was right, and she had to make due with just having their normal visitors for the party. Didi placed a red party on Tommy's head, making him giggle. She removed Sarah's floppy fishing hat and replaced it with a sparkly pink party hat. Sophie and Tommy were very excited to have their hats, particularly because they knew party hats signaled the beginning of a party. The doorbell rang just then, and both babies gasped in excitement.

Stu answered it the door, and parade of people came inside - Kira, Chas, Betty, Howard, Drew and Charlotte, each with presents in hand and kids in tow. Angelica was wearing a pink puffy ballerina dress and made sure the everybody knew it.

"Great to see everybody," said Stu. "At least _you_ all made it."

"What do you mean?" Drew asked, suspiciously with a grin. He knew his little brother. "What'd you mess up _this_ time, bro?"

Stu glared at him. "Just a little minor detail to the party planning." He paused. "I forgot to mail the party invitations."

Betty slapped him on the back, hard. "Ah, no big deal, Stuie. All the party you'd ever need just came through the door!"

Sophie waved excitedly at her friends, and Kimi giggled and waved back. The girls were very glad to see each other, even if it had only been a few days since their last visit. They were best friends, and loved the time they could spend together. Didi gave each child a party hat, and after seeing their excitement over something as simple as paper hats, made her spirits high.

Angelica smiled sweetly and gracefully ballerina danced over to the playpen. "I wore my new ballerina costume _just_ for your birthday, Sophie. 'Cause I want you to have the bestest birthday ever!" She said, just as sweet as her dance. "It's too bad Susie's sick, I betcha she woulda _loved_ my dress, too."

The adults awed, entranced by Angelica's sugary-sweetness. Dil blew a raspberry, pretty much summing up what the other babies were thinking after witnessing Angelica's diabetes-inducing act.

"Aw, isn't that _sweet_, everyone? My little angel just couldn't stop talking about Sophie's birthday. She couldn't _wait_ to get over here," Charlotte said, gently, before her cell phone rang and she began angrily chatting on it, diverting her attention.

Kira, Chas, Betty, Howard and Drew smiled at Sophie in turn and wished her a happy birthday.

"Happy birthday, Sophie chan," Kira said, bending down and kissing her on her forehead. "We're so happy to we get to spend it with you."

Sophie giggled and reached up for a hug from Kira. Sophie loved hugs, and she especially loved giving them.

"Come on, everyone. Let's get the kids out back before the Happy Baby Performers arrive," Didi said. "It should be a real treat."

"What's a Happy Baby Performer?" Howard asked, confused.

"Oh, it's a _wonderful_ organization Kira found on the internet," Didi said. "They specialize in baby birthday parties. Acrobatics, face painting, puppet shows, the works. Oh, it's going to be _great_! It's the perfect thing for Sophie's party."

"It sounds wonderful Deed, but are you sure all of that is really necessary?" Chas asked, a little skeptical.

"Oh yes, definitely," Didi said. "We have to make this birthday extra special. Sophie's been through a lot lately, you know..." Didi's voice trailed off for a moment, fondly remembering her half-sister and brother in-law. "I just want to make sure everything is _perfect_ today."

The adults looked at each other, but said nothing. Usually if Didi had her mind set on something, there was little anyone could do or say that could change babies giggled and ran into the backyard, wanting to play as fast as they could.

"It's Sophie's birth-day, it's Sophie's birth-day!" Kimi giggled happily, singing to a made up melody. "Birthday birthday birthday!"

"I just loooves birfdays!" Lil added. "I love eating cake, and ice creams, and '_specially_ wormsies!"

"Me too! But my _other_ favoritest part is getting presents!" Phil said.

"Yeah, but _you're_ not gonna get presents today, Phil," Chuckie said. "Today, Sophie's gonna get all the presents, 'cause it's _her_ birthday."

"That's right, Chuckie," Tommy said. "And I gots a _really_ good present for you, Sophie! I bet ya you're gonna love it!"

"Us, too!" Phil and Lil said. "We gots a great one!"

Chuckie giggled. "Mine's pretty good, too. At least, _I_ think it is."

Angelica walked up just then, eavesdropping on their conversation out of boredom. The adult had already given as many compliments to her as they could, and she needed action somewhere else. She knew the babies were always good for a laugh.

Kimi gasped and put her hands on her face in horror. "Oh, _no_!"

"What's wrong, Kimi?" Sophie asked worriedly, taking Kimi's hand. "Are you okay?"

"I just 'amembered that I forgotted something!" Kimi said, woefully. "I was so essited about your party...I _forgotted_ to get you a present!"

"Aw, don't worry, Kimi. It's okay," Sophie said, gently hugging her friend. She was relieved that it was nothing serious. "You don't gots to get me a present! It doesn't matter to me!"

Angelica chuckled. "Don't you babies know _anything_? '_Acourse_ she's gotta get you a present, Blondie. "

"But, why, Angelica?" Tommy asked.

"Because," Angelica said, matter-of-factly. "It's the number one most importantest thing in the whole world. The Birthday Rule."

"The Birfday Rule?" Phil and Lil asked, scratching their heads.

"Yeah! It's a rule the says everybody's gotta give a present to the birthday girl or boy. If they _don't_…then they can't come to the party," said Angelica. "It's kinda like a ticket at the carnival. You can't go on any of the rolly coasters if you don't gots a ticket!"

Kimi frowned sadly, but Sophie shook her head in disagreement. "I never heared about a birthday rule, Angelica. Kimi can come to my party, just 'acause I say so," Sophie said, smiling at her best friend. Sophie couldn't imagine a birthday party without Kimi, and she didn't want to even think about it. "Kimi, I promise that you can still come to my party even if you don't gots a present for me, okay?"

Kimi smiled in relief. "Thanks, Sophie. But, you're still my bestest friend, and I wanna get you _something_!"

Suddenly, Spike barked and wagged his tail. Spiffy barked too, and jumped up and down. Clearly, both dogs were trying to tell their masters something.

"Oh, hey! I think Spike and Spiffy wanna give you their presents, now, Sophie," Tommy giggled. "I had to help them out a little, but it's still super special anyway."

Both dogs barked in agreement, Spiffy bouncing an extra time just for good measure.

"Okay, let's so!" Tommy cried, gripping Sophie's hand and dragging her away with the rest of the babies.

Only Kimi stayed behind, nervously. She turned to Angelica, who was eagerly awaiting whatever thing she knew Kimi would ask. Angelica's first plan didn't seem to work, but she had another she was itching to try out. "Angelica, what kinda present do _you _think I should get for Sophie?"

"Gee, I dunno, Pipsqueak, but I know one thing. You better get her a really, really _good_ one," Angelica said. "'Cause I didn't tell you about the other, more _importantest_ birthday rule."

"The _other_ birfday rule?" Kimi asked, gasping. "You mean, there's _more_?" This wasn't sounding good to her, at all.

"_Yeah_. I mean, it's bad enough you don't _already_ gots a present for the birthday girl. But, if you don't gets her the best and most _amazingest_ present ever…you can't be bestest friends no more," said Angelica, as Kimi's jaw dropped in shock. "Ater all, everybody knows the person who gives the bestest birthday presents are the ones who are the bestest of friends, right?"

Kimi gasped loudly, her heart beating wildly. "Oh, no! But...but I _wants_ Sophie to be my bestest friend, Angelica! She's the onliest bestest friend I gots!"

"Then you better get her the bestest present…or else, you don't gots a bestest friend no more!" Angelica said, chuckling and running off, happy to have done more damage she had origingally expected.

Kimi frowned, sadly. "Oh, _no_!" She looked at the other babies, who were giggling at Spiffy and Spike's present…an old dog toy. "What am I gonna _do_?"

"Thank you so much Spikey!" Sophie said, giving the dog a tight squeeze, and a kiss on the nose. "And thank you, too, Spiffy!" Sophie tried to kiss Spiffy on his nose, too, but Spiffy beat her to it, and began licking her all over her face.

After freeing herself from the kiss-attack, Sophie ran over to Kimi, eager to show her best friend her new gifts. "Hey Kimi, did ya see what Spike and Spiffy gived me? I don't think I'm gonna be chewing on it, though." She giggled loudly, but stopped the moment she noticed Kimi wasn't laughing. "Oh, Kimi. What's wrong?"

"Um...nothing's wrong, Sophie," Kimi said quickly. "I just...I just wanna go look for a present for you, now. That's all."

"But, I said you don't gots to gives me anything!' Sophie said, smiling. "I'm really just happy you're here."

"I knows, but I still wants to," Kimi said quietly. "It _is_ your birthday, ya know."

"Hey, can me and Phil gives you are presents next?" Lil asked, bouncing with excitement, much the same as Spiffy had done. "We're ready, we're ready!"

"Yeah," Sophie grinned widely. Kimi frowned. Kimi knew that each new present Sophie recieved only made her that much closer to having a new best friend.

Phil and Lil giggled and pulled their gifts out of their diapers in a rush. They had begun searching for presents the moment Betty had told them Sophie's birthday had been coming. Lil had a tiny, pink diamond ring, which glimmered in the sunlight. None of the babies had ever seen such a beautiful ring before, and they all gasped in awe. Phil held up a crumpled 100 dollar bill with pride.

"We wanted to find the bestest presents ever, Sophie," said Phil, grinning.

Sophie's eyes got wide as she took the gifts. "Oh, wow! They're both so neato! Thank you guys so much! I really loves them!"

She gave Phil and Lil and hug, while Kimi stared at her feet, sadly. This day was turning into a nightmare for her.

Sophie held the 100 dollar bill up to the sun. "Hey, I gots a idea! I'm gonna use Phil's present to make confetter! Every party needs confetter!"

"What's confetter?" asked Chuckie, biting his lip and shivering. "It sounds scary."

"Oh, no, Chuckie. Confetter is really neato! Look!" Sophie took the bill and tore it into tiny pieces of "confetti" and blew it at her friends, who giggled. The wind then took each piece into the air and far away.

"Hey, that's essactly what _I_ thought you could do with it, too!" Lil said, giggling again.

"Uh, what're you gonna do with that really pretty shiny ring?" Tommy asked pointing to the ring in Sophie's hand.

"I thinks I'm gonna bury it in the sand box. I don't wants the shiny parts to stop shining! Come on!" Sophie said, excitedly. "I'm gonna bury it so deep that _nobody _will ever be able to find it!"

"Yeah!" The other babies cried, and ran towards the sand-box in a flurry.

"Oh, no!" Kimi said to herself. "I just _gots_ to find the bestest present! Phil and Lil's presents were super duper good! I just _gots_ to!"

Kimi ran to a big box of toys near Spike's dog house and begin pulling out toys and tossing them on the ground. She would take a look at a toy, then grunt frustratingly when she wasn't satisfied with it. Spike barked quietly, and Spiffy looked at Kimi with interest, especially at her enthusiasm and eagerness to play with his toys.

"Come on, come _on_!" Kimi said angrily. "I just gotsta find the besest present, you guys! If I don't, then I can't be bestest friends with Sophie no mores!"

Kimi found old teddy bears, dirty toys, and many other things. But nothing was just right for a present. Nothing was just right to make her continue to be Sophie's best friend. Sophie had noticed Kimi missing when they had buried her ring, and it worried her. It wasn't like Kimi to miss out on any activity they did. After they had finished, she led them over to Kimi, who was still frowing over the pile of toys she had made. Before anything could be said, though, Didi and the rest of the adults came out once more, this time, holding a huge pink box. Sophie's birthday cake.

"Oooo!" Phil and Lil said, their eyes lighting up. "_Cake_!"

"Come on, kids! It's time for cake!" Didi called, and the babies giggled and ran over to her.

Sophie made sure to take Kimi's hand as they rushed all crowded around the table excitedly. The box was quite huge, which excited the babies even more. They imagined a huge mountain of cake.

"Okay, sweetie, are you ready for your cake?" Didi said, ready with a knofe to cut open the box. Stu and Kira stood, poised and ready with cameras. "One...Two..._three_!"

Didi opened the box with a flourish of the kife. The adults gasped in horror, but the babies gasped in pure pleasure. Didi had ordered a cake with pink flowers and roses for Sophie's cake, but what was inside was a dinosaur cake, with the words, "Happy Birthday, Samuel!" Written in huge blue letters surrounded by plastic toy dinosaurs.

"Oh, dear!" Didi cried. "They gave us the wrong cake!"

But, Sophie was pleased as punch with the cake. She hugged Didi excitedly, and poked her finger into the cake icing, and licked it. Then, she picked up a dinosaur and made it growl at Tommy, playing a game of dinosaurs with him as he grabbed another one.

"_Rawr_!" Sophie said, as Tommy giggled. "Rawr! Rawr! R-"

Suddenly as Sophie was moving her hand in order to make the game more dramatic, she accidentally put her other hand right into the cake, smushing it. Then, as she gasped, she dropped the dinosaur into the cake, splattering it everywhere, all over everyone. She put her finger to her mouth and glanced up at Didi. She was prepared to cry, because she was in fact sorry for making such a mess of things.

Didi was frowning, but not because of the hand print or the gooey dinosaur on the cake. "I can't believe they gave us the wrong cake! This is awful!"

"No worries, Deed. We still have the Happy Baby Performers later on," Stu said, taking a napkin and wiping Sophie's hand and plucking out the dinosaur. "Now, let's eat the cake before it gets destroyed by our graceful niece, okay?"

As everybody enjoyed the smashed cake, Tommy was talking excitedly about he and Dil's present. "After we finish eatin' the cake, Sophie, we _gotta_ give you our present! It was Dilly's idea, but I think our presents are the bestest _ever_!" Tommy said, with a giggle.

Chuckie shook his head. "Nu-uh! My present is defernitely the most _bestest, _Tommy!"

Kimi gulped. "Uh...mine, too!"

The babies stared at her in shock.

"You founded me a present, Kimi?" Sophie asked, smiling.

Kimi took a bite of cake nervously. "Um..yeah, I did. And…it's the most specialest and…._wonderfullest_ present you ever sawed!"

The other babies gasped.

"Wow, Kimi! Can I...can I have it now?" Sophie asked, taking Kimi's hand into hers. "I'm so essited!"

Kimi's cheeks blushed a little. "Uh…well…not _yet_. Maybe after Chuckie and Tommy and Dil gives you their presents, okay? I mean, I don't want my present to make theirs seem like little baby toys or somethin'."

Angelica chuckled when she heard it. "What a great idea, Kimi! That's very nice of you not wanting to make your other dumb baby friends jealous with your _amazing_ present."

THe other babies smiled in agreement.

"Okay, okay!" Tommy said, eating his last bite of cake in a rush. "I'm gonna go get mine and Dilly's present! Let's go, you guys!"

"I'll come in a minute," Kimi mumbled.

The other babies ran off excitedly, although Sophie looked behind her with a frown on her face.

"Now, stay close, kids! The Happy Baby Performers are going to be here soon!" Kira called. "We wouldn't want to miss that!"

Angelica took a bite of her cake daintily and looked at Kimi, who looked rather miserable. "So, Kimi. Where's this most specialest and wonderfullest present, huh?"

"It's uh…it's a secret," Kimi said, quietly.

"You know something, Finster? It looks to_ me_ like Sophie liked Phil and Lil's presents bestest of all. I guess you really _don't_ gots a bestest friend no more, huh? Maybe Tommy and Sophie can just go to Phil and Lil's house every day, and not yours!"

Kimi gasped as she looked at the other babies crowded around Dil's car seat, apparently ready to see their presents. She ran over to them just as Tommy and Dil presented their present. It was a yellow binkie from Dil, and a big purple sock from Tommy.

"Oh, wow, you guys!" Sophie cried, giving Dil and Tommy a hug. "Dilly, this is the bestest binkie ever!" She plopped it into her diaper. "And Tommy, this is the bestest purple sock I ever sawed! Now my toes are gonna be so warm when I wears it!"

Chuckie giggled. "Now mine, now mine, you guys! I gots an even better present than those!"

Angelica danced over to them, too, and chuckled as she saw Kimi's face. Angelica couldn't have planned it better if she tried. She knew Kimi had nothing, and she was going to enjoy watching her crumble.

Chuckie reached inside his pocket and produced white daisy. When Chuckie had picked it, it had been perky and fresh. Now, it was a bit brown, and was bent. He frowned and blushed, but Sophie gasped happily.

"Chuckie!" Sophie cried, putting her hands on her cheeks. "Oh, my goodness!"

"Oh, no!" Chuckie said sadly. "It broked!"

Sophie took the flower from him and grinned. She tripped and fell as she tried to hug him, crushing the flower just a little bit more. She stood up and hugged Chuckie tightly before he could say another word. "But, Chuckie! I _loves_ flowers! This is defernitely the bestest present I ever gots! I even broked it a little more, anyway, see?. It's perfect!"

Angelica smiled. "Oh, not you _don't_, Blondie. You haven't seened _my_ present, yet!"

Kimi gasped loudly as Angelica pulled out a tiny box from her pocket and handed it to her. Kimi hadn't expected Angelica to have a present for Sophie, too. She felt sick in her stomach, and it had nothing to do with how much cake she had eaten.

"Wow, Angelica! Thank you!" Sophie sad happily, giving her a quick hug before opening her the box. Inside was a tiny pink shoe. "Oh….it's really…"

"Oh, my gosh," Angelica said, fakely. "That's my other pink Cynthia shoe. I've been looking _all_ over for that! You know, Sophie. If you don't wants it, I'll be _glad_ to take it back."

Sophie smiled, knowing a present from Angelica was too good to be true. "Okay, Angelica. Thank you so much for the…box."

"You're welcome, Blondie. But, I think we know which was your most _favoritest_ present, right? I mean, Chuckie's flower was pretty impressive!"

"Right," Sophie said, smiling. "But, I still don't gots Kimi's present, yet, ya know."

Angelica grinned. "Oh yeah. You're _right_, Blondie. So, Kimi. Where _is_ your most specialest and wonderfullest present, hm?"

Kimi put her finger to her mouth, nervously. "Um…well."

"Hey, pups!" called Betty. "Get over here and sit down! We got company!"

The babies gasped happily and ran towards the grown ups. They all sat down in a half circle, ready for the surprise. They were eager to see the performers that Tommy's parents had hired. Suddenly, three adults dressed up in pink, yellow, and green hats came rushing up in front of the babies. They each were wearing floppy pants and red t-shirts, trying to have dressed as flashy as possible.

"Hiya, kids! We're the Happy Baby Performers!" One said, with the green hat. "I'm Pipsi Green, and this is Blue Drop and Sunshine Yellow. _Yahoo_!"

The three performers tried their hardest to entertain the babies, and for once, Chuckie wasn't scared. He was bored as he watched the three bumble and mess around with their unimpressive theatrics.

"We've got a _great_ show for you today!" Sunshine Yellow said, trying to make a silly face.

The babies stared at them, dumbfounded. Phil yawned in boredom.

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to provide face painting and a puppet show?" Kira commented, noticing that none of the group had anything of that nature with them, other than a heluim jug for blowing up balloons.

"Well," said Blue Drop. "Our car had a little malfunction on the way over here, and we had to ride with a tow truck. We do have balloons, though!" He pulled out three pathetic round balloons, and tossed them to the babies, but they ignored them.

Sophie did feel bad, because she knew the funny adults were trying, but her attention span was like that of a Beta fish, and within a second, she was gone. Tommy and Sophie began crawling around in a circle, Kimi and Phil played with grass blades, and Lil and Chuckie were glancing up at the sky, completely oblivious to the show.

"This is the dumbest show I ever sawed," Angelica said, crossing her arms over her chest, angrily. "I want my monies back!"

"Oh, dear!" Didi said, as the Performers tried to get the babies attention with no avail. "This really _is_ a disaster!"

"Hey, look on the bright side, Didi. At least now they can pay for the tow truck with all the money you paid them to dance around and make funny faces," Charlotte said, taking a moment away from her cell phone.

The babies had wandered away from the Performers, much to the dismay of everyone. Only Angelica stayed rooted to the spot, throwing back the balloons they had tried to get the babies to play with and causing a rukus as she normally did.

"Those sure were some funny peoples," Chuckie said. "At least clowns are _scary_. Those guys are just…strange."

"But, at least they gived Sophie neat balloon presents," Lil said. "Angelica likes them, anyways."

Sophie giggled, but glanced around her once she noticed an important member of their gang had gone missing once again. "Hey, where's Kimi?"

The babies looked around, and saw Kimi sitting by herself in the sandbox. She looked even more miserable than they had ever seen her before.

"Uh, hey Kimi. What's wrong?" Tommy asked. As the other babies followed behind him.

"Yeah! I thought now it's your turn to give Sophie your present!" Phil added. "I thought you'd be happy about that!"

"It _is_ time, Phil" Kimi said, standing up. "I looked and looked everywhere to find you the bestest present, Sophie, but it was really hard. I did find _something_ for you, though_._ Maybe...it's not the most specialest present…but it's the specialest to _me_." She reached inside her pocket and pulled out Superthing…her most favorite toy ever. "Here you go, Sophie. This is my present for you. Happy Birfday."

The babies gasped in shock. They all knew how precious and special Superthing was to Kimi. It was almost on par with Sophie's stuffed bunny her late parents had given her.

"But, Kimi!" Sophie gasped, her eyes wide. "Superthing is your most favoritest thing in the whole wild world!"

"I knows. But…._you're_ my most favoritest friend in the whole wild world," Kimi said. "I just _haves_ to give you something more specialer than everybody else…'cause..'cause…"

""Cause why, Kimi?" Chuckie asked, gently.

"'Cause Angelica tolded me about another birfday rule. She said the person that gived the bestest present would be Sophie's new bestest friend," Kimi said, sadly.

Sophie hugged Kimi the tightest she had ever before. "Kimi, thank you so much that you spended the whole party trying to find me something special. But, you will _always_ be my bestest friend, even if you _never_ gived me another present on any of my other birfdays ever again! _All_ my friends are way more importanter than the presents," Sophie said. "And you guys are the bestest friends ever, and this is one of the bestest birfdays I ever had, just 'acause you're here!"

"Really? So, it doesn't matter who gives the bestest present?" Kimi asked.

Sophie giggled. "Nope. I like all my presents just 'acause my friends gived them to me. And I wants you to keep Superthing, Kimi. So Sprinkles still has her bestest friend, too!"

Behind them, the Baby Performers and shrugged their shoulders and left, having tried their hardest to entertain Angelica, but failed. Didi was almost in hysterics about how badly the party had gone.

"Come on, you guys. I gots a _great_ idea. My neato dinosaur cake was really squishy when I put my hand in it. You guys wanna eat some more?" Sophie said, with a grin.

The babies giggled. "_Yeah_!" They all cried, following Sophie as she led the way towards her birthday cake.

"Mommy, Daddy," Angelica whined. "Can we go home, yet? This is the worstest party _ever_!"

"Angelica!" Drew gasped, but Didi put her hands over her eyes, defeated.

"No, Drew. Angelica's right. This was supposed to be the best birthday party I could possibly make, and it's a _disaster_. First the invitations didn't get sent, the cake was wrong, the birthday performers we bad, and…"

Her worries were drowned out by the giggles of the babies. The adults turned to see them paying and squishing up the cake, their little hearts content. Sophie and Tommy were sitting on the top of the table, cake in their hands and on their faces.

Stu put a hand on Didi's shoulder. "Look, Deed. Sophie's having a great time. She doesn't care about the invitations, the cake, or the performers."

Tommy giggled as his parents came over to them. Sophie looked up and smiled a happy smile at her aunt and uncle. She stood up on the table and gave them both a sloppy hug.

"Maybe you're right, Stu. I guess it wasn't so bad, after all," Didi said, kissing Sophie's cheek. "Happy birthday, sweetie."

Tommy stood up and hugged Stu, then Sophie and Tommy giggled and hugged each other, as the other babies giggled, followed by the grown ups. True, it wasn't exactly a "conventional" birthday, but Sophie was happy, just the same.


End file.
